REUTERS - International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $60.68 per barrel at 0703 GMT, 4 cents above their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 2 cents from their last settlement, at $52.13 a barrel.

REUTERS - Germany will try to protect German and European companies from some potentially “massive collateral damage” if Washington levies further sanctions against Russia, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

REUTERS - Threatening to impose U.S. sanctions on companies involved in the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline is unacceptable, the head of Austria’s OMV, which has a stake in the project, told Germany’s Handelsblatt.

REUTERS - “If we look beyond the noise of weekly data and speculators’ herd-like behavior, I remain convinced that we’re on the right track, and that the oil market will quickly return to balance,” said Falih, addressing an oil conference in Abu Dhabi.

AN - Bank of America Merrill Lynch has retained its forecast that oil will average at $70 this year, after prices rebounded from a two-year low in December.

U.S. EIA - EIA forecasts Brent prices will average $61 per barrel (b) in 2019 and $65/b in 2020. In 2018, Brent prices averaged $71/b.

SHANA - the OPEC Conference that unanimously decided on December 7 to adjust OPEC overall production by 0.8 mb/d from October 2018 levels, effective as of January 2019, for an initial period of six months.

PLATTS - The NYMEX February natural gas futures contract jumped 49.2 cents in trading Monday to settle at $3.591/MMBtu with colder weather forecast for the eastern half of the US toward the end of the month.

REUTERS - China's natural gas demand will reach 308 billion cubic meters (bcm), CNPC said. That marks an 11.4-percent climb from 2018, although the pace of growth would be down from 16.6 percent recorded previously.

SHELL - PGGM and Shell have joined forces to explore the opportunity to participate in the controlled auction for the sustainable energy provider Eneco. In December 2018 Eneco and its shareholders’ committee announced the start of the privatisation process.